Uttarakhand businessman who consumed poison in critical condition

Umesh Melkani, Pandey’s brother-in-law, who was present at the private hospital where Pandey is admitted, said, “The doctors have said that his (Pandey’s) condition is critical. He was on dialysis (on Sunday) and has been placed in the ICU… Doctors said the next 72 hours are crucial.”

A day after a businessman from Haldwani, Uttarakhand, attempted suicide at the Dehradun BJP office, his condition remained critical on Sunday. On Saturday, blaming the Trivendra Rawat-led government and the Centre for loss in business due to demonetisation and the subsequent imposition of GST, Prakash Pandey (45), who is into transport business, had entered the Uttarakhand BJP office, immediately after consuming poison.

Umesh Melkani, Pandey’s brother-in-law, who was present at the private hospital where Pandey is admitted, said, “The doctors have said that his (Pandey’s) condition is critical. He was on dialysis (on Sunday) and has been placed in the ICU… Doctors said the next 72 hours are crucial.” The hospital, however, refused to comment on Pandey’s condition.

Back at home in Haldwani, Pandey’s wife Kamla Pandey, in her early-40s, when approached by the media on Saturday evening, said, “My husband had left for Dehradun on Friday — to meet ministers and tell them that he was literally out of work for the past year…. But he never showed us that he was under so much tension. I had no clue he would attempt suicide.”

Pandey had earlier written to the Prime Minister’s Office, as also to Uttarakhand CM Rawat, but apparently no relief was extended to him. In one of the letters, he wrote that due to lack of money he had not paid the school fee of his two children for the past six months.

After visiting Pandey in the hospital, on Sunday, Chief Minister Trivendra Rawat said that “his treatment is the government’s priority”. However, Rawat remained mum on the allegations that Pandey had raised against his government.

Congress leaders too visited Pandey at the hospital on Sunday. Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Pritam Singh, who, on Sunday, visited Pandey’s family in Haldwani, said, “His (Pandey’s) family lives in a rented house. In the past few months his earnings have become nil due to demonetisation and GST… The incident shows where the policies of the state and central governments are leading to.”